A vintage black and white photo of a woman with short hair, looking to the side, with a bird perched on a plant on a shelf behind her. The photo appears torn in the bottom left corner.

Illustration of a black and white bird with orange on its face, perched on a branch

A pixelated illustration of a duck with a star on its head, using black, white, and yellow colors, on a black background.

Musings of a Bird

Essays on creativity, identity, wellness and spirituality

Jenn Potratz 9/4/26 Jenn Potratz 9/4/26

Two Ways to Be Real: What Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem Got Right About Authenticity

Nine days apart, this year, we lost two of the most recognizable women in modern America — women who spent sixty years being almost nothing alike. One built an empire on rhinestones and a refusal to say an unkind word. The other spent her life saying the true thing out loud, whatever it cost her. Here's what their opposite legacies taught me about what authenticity actually is — and why the version you've been measuring yourself against might not be the right one.

People ask me why they should work with a coach. Here’s what the research says.

I get asked a lot: why coaching and not therapy? Here’s what the data actually shows, they’re equally effective. So this isn’t about one being superior. It’s about what problem you’re solving. Therapy makes sense when you’re processing something. Coaching makes sense when you know what you want to create, but the systems around you (or inside you) keep getting in the way. This post is for the people in that second group.

Could it be there’s a future version of you that’s waiting?

While I was helping other people harness their creativity, I was quietly struggling to do the same for myself. Afraid to fail. Afraid to be seen. Convinced that making space for my own creative life was something I hadn’t earned yet.

Here’s what changed.